Electronic devices, such as cellphones, may experience errors due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD can cause both hard errors and soft errors in electronic devices. ESD-related hard-errors in electronic devices are errors caused by physical damage of one or more electrical components of the electronic devices, while ESD-related soft errors are errors caused by incorrect signals or data in the electronic devices. ESD-related soft errors in electronic devices include bit errors, upsets, unwanted resets, etc.
Currently, electronic devices are tested for susceptibility to ESD after the electronic devices are designed or manufactured. Conventional ESD testing involves subjecting a device under test (DUT) to ESD using a manual ESD gun, which simulates ESD from a human or other ESD sources. Using the manual ESD gun, ESD is applied to different areas of a DUT to determine whether that DUT meets predefined specifications.
This manual ESD testing is labor intensive, and it introduces testing variations due to the manual nature of the testing, which may yield inconsistent or erroneous test results.
In view of the above concerns, there is a need for a system and method for ESD testing of electronic devices that is less labor intensive and yields more reliable and/or consistent results.